Lilith
01-20-2005, 08:34 PM
(submitted by gekkogecko)
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian man who slapped a young
woman on the bottom while she was making a telephone
call has been handed a 14-month suspended jail term by
the Supreme Court.
The tough sentence made headlines in Italy where
judges have been cracking down on sexual harassment
with a string of ground-breaking verdicts against
unsolicited advances.
A man in northern Italy was fined 300 euros ($392.5)
last year for sending a flirtatious text message to a
woman.
In the past such cases would rarely have made their
way into the courts of a country renowned for its
macho society.
Italy's high court ruled that the slap was an act of
sexual aggression, which belittled the woman and
caused her "duress."
The aggressor, identified only as Ivan P., told the
court that the victim was a relative, who had invented
the story to get revenge in a family feud.
"I don't believe in justice anymore. The sentence has
ruined my life," he told Il Messaggero newspaper. His
prison term was suspended because he was a first time
offender.
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian man who slapped a young
woman on the bottom while she was making a telephone
call has been handed a 14-month suspended jail term by
the Supreme Court.
The tough sentence made headlines in Italy where
judges have been cracking down on sexual harassment
with a string of ground-breaking verdicts against
unsolicited advances.
A man in northern Italy was fined 300 euros ($392.5)
last year for sending a flirtatious text message to a
woman.
In the past such cases would rarely have made their
way into the courts of a country renowned for its
macho society.
Italy's high court ruled that the slap was an act of
sexual aggression, which belittled the woman and
caused her "duress."
The aggressor, identified only as Ivan P., told the
court that the victim was a relative, who had invented
the story to get revenge in a family feud.
"I don't believe in justice anymore. The sentence has
ruined my life," he told Il Messaggero newspaper. His
prison term was suspended because he was a first time
offender.